TRP: Goro and Morgan (Forgery)
Day 386, after Rings. Hey, Goro Sent, you still busy? I got my first thing taken care of but now I need another thing. I'll buy you a drink. Morgan didn't answer for a little bit. Come by my place, she said, then. Outside town. You remember where? LINA Goro did, but he didn't wanna spend more magic just to send back a yes, so he started on his way. He arrived at Morgan's house and ambled up to the front door, figuring her alarms would alert her to his arrival. IZZY He could hear some movement inside, but she didn't come to the door. LINA He knocked. IZZY "Yeah, come in," she called. Her voice sounded scratchy. "It's not locked." LINA Goro frowned and opened the door, stepping inside. IZZY Morgan was shambling around inside, picking up clothes and blankets and unwashed dishes, making some attempt to tidy up. She was barefoot and wearing baggy leisure clothes, and her hair was messily pulled up in a ramshackle bun. She glanced his way, looking groggy, and dropped a pile of laundry into a chair before carrying the dishes over to the wash basin. "Place is a mess," she acknowledged. LINA "Wild night, huh?" Goro shut the door behind him and looked around for a place to sit. Seemed better to just stand, for now. IZZY "The wildest," she deadpanned. The dishes clattered into the basin. "There's, uh ..." She gestured vaguely. "You can hang out on the couch." LINA Goro crossed his arms and leaned his back against the door, watching her. He frowned. "You alright?" IZZY Morgan shrugged. LINA Goro took another look around the inside of the house, then watched Morgan for a while, taking in the state of her. "Where's Jasper at?" IZZY Morgan waved it off and started scraping at the crusty dishes. "She had, like, paladin shit to do. You know she was a paladin? I mean, she wanted to be. I guess Io was a bitch and took her powers. Anyway." LINA "Oh. How long's she been gone?" IZZY She shrugged again. "Dunno. Been busy. Vampire shit, you know?" LINA Goro grimaced, since she wasn't looking anyway. Shit. This wasn't good. "Yeah? How's that going, by the way? That book I give you been useful at all?" IZZY "Oh, yeah, no, you bet." She glanced back at him, some sincerity breaking through the grogginess. "I really appreciate that, doll. I've got a lead on a guy. Might actually be the real deal, this time." LINA "You need some help vetting him, or anything?" Goro unhooked his bracelet and brought it to his mouth to chew on. IZZY "Nah, I got it. You know. I can take care of myself." She sounded fucking tired. LINA "God, yeah. Same here. Always like doing stuff in a team better, though." IZZY She made a shaky hand motion over her shoulder at him and went ehhh. LINA Yeah right. Goro wasn't gonna push it, though. He also wished she'd quit doing dishes or whatever and come talk to him for real, but he probably wouldn't have any luck asking for that, either. He glanced around again and went to sit on the couch like she'd suggested. He drummed his fingers on his knees. IZZY She kept messing with the dishes quietly for a moment, then asked, "So, hey, what's this other thing?" LINA Goro hesitated a minute before answering. She was changing the goddamn subject, but maybe it'd make her feel better to have a distraction. "Uh. So. Well. The first thing. I went and met with the lady who birthed me." IZZY "Oh. No shit?" She paused and lifted her head from the dishes, but didn't look back. "How'd that ... go." LINA Goro dug his nails into his knees and gritted his teeth, letting out a groan that was practically a snarl. IZZY She barked out a harsh laugh and looked back down. "Yeah, I feel you. It's like that, huh." LINA "I almost fucking strangled her. She said my little brother was half bitch and half idiot. He ain't fucking either, he's just a sweet kid who likes--fuckin' drawing and shit--" He choked himself off, too angry to keep going. IZZY "Tsh. Mothers," Morgan muttered. "You sure you don't want me to kill her? Honestly, sounds like a relaxing fucking weekend at this point." LINA "Gettin' to the point I might wanna do it myself," he muttered. Then he shook his head rapidly. "I'm trying to get her wedding ring from her. It's a family heirloom from my dad's side. She doesn't wanna give it up, 'cause she loooved him or whatever. Like I give a shit. But she says she'll trade it for the letters he wrote back home to his family, the ones I got from the museum." IZZY "Oh, well," Morgan said. "Easy. Give the bitch fake letters." LINA "Exactly," Goro said. "And, uh. That's where I thought you might be able to help." IZZY "Ahhh." She glanced back at him with a flicker of a smile, and a bit weakly, joked, "You need my hot little hands." LINA Goro squinted at her. "...yeah." IZZY She grinned a little and looked back to the dishes, then seemed to give up on them and turned around to face him, propping her hands and lower back on the counter. "Yeah, no problem. I'll need some samples, is all." She scratched at her throat thoughtfully. "I should be able to find someone in this shit-ass town that can get me weathered parchment, so they look old." LINA He nodded. "Thanks, gorgeous. I'll make it up to you somehow." IZZY "Don't worry about it." Then she snapped her fingers and pointed at him. "Oh -- y'know what, speaking of. Just a sec." She pushed off from the counter and trotted up to the higher portion of the split level, hidden briefly by the curtains that partitioned it off. There were some more rustling sounds, and some muttering and swearing, and she came back around with a jangling pouch. "Listen," she said, "uh, your boy -- fiance, sorry -- way back when, he made me a couple of those healing potions. I wanted to pay him back." She rattled the purse. "And that thermal wand you guys bought, there's enough gold to cover it, too." She held it out. "So we're even, you feel me?" LINA Goro stared at the purse, but didn't take it. "Uh. Don't worry about it. We're doing fine, money-wise." IZZY She chucked it onto his lap. LINA He picked it up and tossed it to the other end of the couch. "Paying old debts is the kinda shit people do before they take off somewhere for good, or kill themselves, or some shit. What are you fucking up to?" IZZY "Well, hey, all goes well --." She jabbed a couple curled fingers at the side of her neck. "This bitch is dyin' real soon, so yeah." LINA "Yeah, but. Not like dead dead." IZZY "Yeah, nah, but, like ..." She made a face and waved a hand around. "New chapter, and shit, you know? I'm closing accounts." LINA "You don't wanna be friends anymore?" He tried not to sound like a hurt little kid, but he was pretty sure he failed. IZZY "I don't ..." She sounded like she was about to hastily explain, but then faltered. She opened and closed her mouth a couple times, looking down. "I just -- ah, fuckin' --." She scraped a hand through her hair, and it got tangled up in the hair tie, which she yanked out more dramatically than necessary with a scowl. It was much more clear now that her hair hadn't been washed in a while. For a moment she just stared down at the hair tie in her hands. "I don't know how this fucking vampire thing is going to affect me," she said, still looking at it instead of Goro. "Maybe I won't. I don't know." She twisted it around in her hands. "People say different shit, about how it works, right? Maybe I'm the same. Maybe I'm not. I don't know." LINA Goro ignored the little voice in his head saying yeah, didn't I try and fucking warn you? He leaned back on the couch. "You wanna sit down?" IZZY She sort of grimaced and shook her head, and turned back towards the sink, pulling her hair back up. LINA "Hey. What's really eating you?" IZZY "Nothing," she mumbled, snapping her hair into a ponytail and clattering the dishes around. "I just want a -- clean fucking slate." LINA Goro rested his elbow on the arm of the couch and leaned his head on his hand, scratching at his hair. "Uh huh?" IZZY She kept clattering without really doing much of anything. LINA Goro flicked a piece of lint off the couch. "Seriously. I'm fuckin' worried." IZZY "Pfff. Pf. I'm fine. I'll be fine. I'm always fine." LINA He cracked half a smile. "Hah. Yeah. Y'know, I realized a few months back, for me fine is the same as alive, and that's why no one believed me when I told 'em I was fine. Turns out when you got loved ones, they want you to be more than just living. Ain't that weird?" IZZY "Uhh, if you say so." LINA "So tell me how you really fuckin' are." IZZY She blew a breath out through her lips. "Bad. I'm bad. Cool?" LINA "Yeah? Why?" IZZY "'Cause I got --." She broke off there and scoffed. "'Cause I got fuck-all going on for me, you know? 'Cause I'm out here by my goddamn self trying to become a vampire, or some shit, so I won't be so motherfucking scared of dying, and I can actually live my life, which is funny, seeing as how I won't actually be alive, so that's, you know, fucking great, a really cool set up I've got going on, and I keep --." Her voice broke in anger and frustration. She kept making noise and accomplishing nothing in the sink. "I keep fucking losing people, because that's just what I do, and I think, you know, it'd probably be a lot fucking easier if I was all undead inside so I didn't have to give a fuck anymore, right? That would be fucking fantastic. I'd love that shit. Sign me the fuck up if being a vampire makes shit stop fucking hurting all the time." LINA Goro stared at her, feeling a little bit stunned. There wasn't fuckin' nothing she said that he didn't get, at least a little bit, but hearing it just all come out of her at once... IZZY She was quiet for a second, like she needed to catch her breath, and sniffed. She muttered, "Then you fuckin' come around, all, what, you don't wanna be friends anymore, making it sound like I have shit to lose, and I just -- I fucking lose either way, Goro, you know?" She gave up on pretending to do the dishes and just leaned over the sink, elbows on the counter and face in her hands. LINA Goro plucked at the fabric of the couch for a while, watching her. Finally he stood up and walked over to her, stopping a few feet away. If she'd been anyone else, he'd've just hugged her from behind, but he didn't wanna startle her. IZZY She sniffed again and rubbed at her face without pulling her hands away from it. LINA "Hey," he said quietly. IZZY "What," she said, muffled. LINA He held his arms out, even though she still wasn't looking. IZZY She didn't react. LINA He scoffed loudly and shuffled close enough to touch her shoulder. IZZY She angled her head just a little to peer out, narrow-eyed, from behind her hand. LINA He put his arms around her, slow and careful, so she could back out easy if she wanted. IZZY Morgan sniffled a little, again, and let it happen with an air of only accepting it grudgingly. For Goro's benefit, maybe. Then, once he got close enough, she leaned into him a bit. LINA He held her tighter once she was leaning into him, and rubbed a hand up and down her back. He knew a hug couldn't fuckin' fix all that shit she'd just told him, but for him at least, getting a hug just made things hurt a little bit less. "Dunno what to say," he admitted. "'Cept maybe that... y'know, all the shit you went through earlier this year, it was a lot. Might take a while to find your footing. Can't just all the sudden get everything you want and be okay, right?" He frowned. "Did I tell you I can bring people back from the dead now?" IZZY "You could do that before," she grumbled. LINA "But now I can bring 'em back when they're dead dead. Soul gone and everything." IZZY "You know I don't know what that like, means, right," she grumbled some more. "Magic and shit. Souls." She pressed her face against him. "I'll still have a soul when I'm a vampire." LINA "Ah. Yeah. I'm just saying, maybe you don't gotta be so scared of dying. Since I'll get ya." He paused. "Don't work on vampires, though." IZZY She scoffed. "Get me. How are you gonna get me if you don't even know I'm dead in the first place, or where my dumbass corpse is at, huh?" She pulled back and rubbed at her face. LINA "Dunno." Goro let her go reluctantly. "If you ain't gonna move back to my neck of the woods, well. We could come up with some kinda system. Weekly check-ins, or some shit." IZZY "I'll be coming back to Sienna Springs," she said, dropping her hands from her face unhappily to cross her arms. "The plan is just, you know, once I'm a vampire." She didn't say anything for a beat, then, quietly, "Seems like a lotta fucking trouble for you to go to." LINA Goro stared at her blankly for a moment. "It's not. It's not any trouble." IZZY "You'll change your mind," she muttered. LINA "Nuh uh. Ain't how it works." He leaned his hip against the counter and drummed his fingers on it. "I remember when I was a kid I was kinda... real scared at the idea of dying alone, and no one caring, or missing me, or whatever. Nobody even knowing who I was. Just. You know. Some body, rotting in an alleyway. You feel me?" IZZY "Kinda." LINA "It made me..." He frowned, squinting at nothing. "Kinda--kinda panicky sometimes, when I'd be in real deep shit. Y'know, I ran into dangerous shit all the fucking time. Every goddamn day and night, it was something. But every now and then, when something real bad happened, I'd get this fuckin' flash of like--oh no, not now. Not yet. That not yet thing, like I thought eventually I'd have someone looking out for me. Someone who cared. And I had to wait to die until then." He kept squinting, and he shook his head, and shook out the hand he didn't have on the counter. Trying to get the memory off him. "Sounds like some inspirational bullshit, or something. Like it gave me a reason to keep going. But it was fucking terrible. I don't think anyone should have to live like that." IZZY Morgan was quiet for a moment, just looking at him, tired and miserable. "I'm sure you got a point in there, doll," she said weakly, "but I dunno what it is." LINA "My point is, no I ain't gonna fucking change my mind. This is important to me. I make sure my people are looked after, alright?" He hesitated, unable to quiet his niggling doubt. "If you--if you wanna be my people, I mean." He scoffed and put a hand over his face. IZZY She winced a bit. "Yeah, I've had people before, is the thing. You know what? They all changed their minds. Even when we had the same fucking mind," she added in a mumble, slumping towards the couch, nudging him with her shoulder in passing and glancing at him -- almost warily -- as she walked off. LINA Goro trailed after her. "Eh. So is it a 'don't wanna risk it' kinda thing, then? Not gonna take the chance?" IZZY Morgan sat down heavily, plucking at a rumpled blanket and dragging it into her lap in a wad. "Can't get let down if you don't give people a chance to do it, right?" She looked off to the side sort of guiltily. LINA "Yeah, nah. I get that. I get that like crazy." He sat down next to her, not too close, but in arm's reach if she wanted. "Sometimes you just end up looking like a fool, though. You know how many years it took me to admit my ma was my ma? I mean Amari, not that other bitch." IZZY "Yeah, well." She kept picking at the blanket. "You don't know it wasn't better to wait that long." LINA "Sure. Didn't cost me nothing to finally start telling her I loved her, though." He paused thoughtfully. "'Cause I did. Love her, I mean. For years and years, and I just didn't say nothing. 'Cause I guess I was worried that'd make it more real, and then it'd hurt more if she left me. Woulda hurt the same amount either way, though. Who was I kidding, right?" IZZY Morgan mumbled wordlessly and slowly pulled the blanket around her like a shawl, dragging it up over her head as a hood. "Yeah," she said again, "well. Maybe that's why I should just ... be a vampire and not have any feelings, or fuckin' whatever. Then I won't feel bad about missed opportunities, either." LINA "Hah. I used to talk like that." Made him sad to remember it. Supposing he'd given up his chance to have a family -- that was bleak as hell. "Then what'd be the point, though?" IZZY "Of what?" LINA "Living." IZZY She shrugged, her face hidden by her makeshift good. "Power. Achieving shit. Making things different than when you found them, you know? Making people remember you when you're gone." LINA He nodded a few times. "Yeah. Yeah, those are pretty good." IZZY "Yeah," she muttered. "See." LINA Goro didn't want to mention that he'd trade all that shit just for getting to cuddle up in bed with his fiance every night. That falling in love and getting a family had turned his priorities real fucking upside-down, and he didn't even mind too much. That it was worth it. Because at some point it felt less like encouraging Morgan, and more like rubbing it in that she didn't have those things yet. "I just hope..." he began. "That--" He chewed his lip for a second. "I hope you don't make that choice. To never give yourself another chance." IZZY "I'm not the one outta chances," she mumbled. "It's other people. I can, you know ... I can look after myself. I don't need'em." LINA Goro kept chewing his lip, staring at her awkwardly. IZZY She sniffled again, still all hidden in her shroud. LINA "Yeah," he said finally. "Guess I don't need anyone, either. But I sure as hell want 'em. And if you do too..." IZZY "It doesn't matter if I do," she said miserably. LINA Goro winced. He was getting to that point where it felt like his words weren't doing any good -- happened sometimes with Hansel. He scooted closer to Morgan and put his arms around her, squeezing her and resting his head on her shoulder. IZZY She cuddled against him, sniffling some more. LINA He held her quietly for a few minutes. "You oughta know by now," he mumbled, "once I get it in my head to do something, ain't nothing stops me." IZZY She sniffed and poked a hand out of the blanket to swipe hastily at her face, and gave a little bit of a weak laugh. "I mean, I can't fucking argue with that." LINA "I killed a hydra, Morgan," he added, as though she were arguing with him and not agreeing. "You told me not to bother, and what'd I do? I went and did it anyway. I smacked that fucking thing." IZZY "I was there," she acknowledged. "I saw you. Literally fucking smacked it." LINA Goro grinned, satisfied thinking back on it. His hold on her had loosened a little as he relaxed, so he tightened it up again. "Good luck getting rid of me, 's'all I'm saying." IZZY "Pfff," she said, but rested the hand she'd wiped her eyes dry with on his chest. She was quiet for a bit, then softly said, "Yeah, maybe. It's just ... fucking hard. You know? It keeps ... keeps happening. People go, hey, I wanna help you. I'm gonna be here for you. I care about you. But it happens anyway. Like, at a certain point, y'know, it's not them. It's me. Must be -- you know, something about me. So, no fucking wonder me and Blue didn't get along, huh?" LINA "Nah," he said simply. "You're wrong." IZZY Morgan snorted. "Oh, yeah?" LINA "Yeah. Ain't you. Ain't your fault. People are just... real unreliable, and shit." IZZY "Psh. Yeah, I don't know." LINA "I'm gonna get you a sending bead. And you can use it to talk to me real easy, whenever you feel like. And if I don't hear from you for a few days, I'll send to you." IZZY She was quiet for another moment. "Y'know," she said slowly. "Y'know -- Ysra." She stopped there. LINA "Yeah?" IZZY "He was, uh. A real devout motherfucker. That orcish thief deity, Shargaas. Not a cleric, or anything. Just a real devout motherfucker." She paused. "I remember ... after I told him about the Queen, he prayed for a long time. Before he did what he did. And Jasper, y'know -- paladin shit. Fuckin' Iomedae. She had a holy quest. Or whatever. And Blue, she pretty much just worshipped, you know, the Queen." She paused again, for a long time. LINA Goro waited for her to say something more, then said, "What, you worried 'cause I'm a real devout motherfucker, too?" IZZY "Yeah, maybe," she said reluctantly. "Like maybe there's something about me that the gods don't fuckin' like. So maybe Mask tells you to fuck off, right? Stop having anything to do with me. Gives you more important things to do. Tells you to shank me." LINA "Mask's never told me to shank someone," Goro said, slightly baffled. "I tell Mask who needs shanking, and he helps me out." IZZY She made a disgruntled sound. "Okay, sure, but you get my point." LINA Goro had to pause to make sure he did. "Yeah. Yeah, I guess. God, you sound like Hansel. Doesn't trust gods. Thinks they're all bad news." IZZY "Yeah, well, I --." She stopped herself. "I mean, okay, granted, he has a little more evidence than I do." LINA "He's got evidence one god's a shitter. Anyhow, we been over this, ain't we? Mask doesn't hate you. He sent you me." IZZY "Maybe he's fucking around with me first before he has you fuck me up," she muttered, but it was weak. LINA "He wouldn't," Goro said, suddenly vehement. "He wouldn't trick me like that." IZZY She kind of groaned and twisted to hide her face against his chest, mumbling, "Like I'm going to argue theology with a fucking cleric. All right, fine." LINA "Hah," Goro said, though he wasn't all that satisfied. He started playing gently with her ponytail, combing some of the tangles out of it with his fingers. "Y'know, if you want, I can commune with him. Find out what he thinks of you." IZZY "Pffft." She scoffed, but then stopped, like she was thinking about it. LINA "I can ask him yes or no questions, kinda deal." He held up his fingers as he ticked them off. "Do you hate Morgan, are you gonna have me shank Morgan--" IZZY She snorted and batted at him. "Shut up." LINA He grinned, but added, "Seriously, though, you want me to? Put your mind at ease. Or just confirm your fears and get it over with, whatever." IZZY "Sounds like some high level magic shit," she muttered. "It'd probably be a waste." LINA "Oh my god." He groaned and let go of her, then climbed off the couch and knelt nearby on the floor. He pulled his amulet out and set it in front of him. IZZY Morgan mumbled a hey as he pulled away, and wrapped the blanket around herself more. LINA Goro bowed his head and prayed silently for a minute, readying himself to receive the answers. Then he opened his eyes, gaze unfocused in the direction of the amulet. "Have you forsaken Morgan Wyn?" COYOTE Sometimes where Goro communed with his god, Mask whispered in his ear, or spoke to him directly. This time, that did not happen. Instead, there was a faint noise from a nearby dirty window, like the whining creak of something being scratched into the glass. One word appeared on the window. Nah, it said. IZZY Morgan peered out from her blanket cocoon, towards the window. With fleece covering her mouth and muffling it, she flatly said, "Cool." LINA "That's weird," Goro said, staring at the window. "God. He's making a statement and shit. What else should I ask?" IZZY "Man, I don't know," she groused. "It was your idea." LINA Goro looked back to the amulet. "Are you angry with Morgan? You want me to kill her?" COYOTE A small arrow etched itself in the glass, pointing to the first word that had already been written. IZZY Morgan made a little dismissive pf sound. "Ask him if he really sent you to me or if you're full of shit." LINA Admittedly, Goro was less certain of that one. It was a nice thought, for sure; he just didn't have a good sense of how much Mask really pointed him down certain paths or toward certain people. "Did you send me to Morgan?" COYOTE There was a long pause, and an uncertain feeling, and then silence. IZZY "So, nah," Morgan said, sounding smug. LINA "Huh." Goro frowned. "Nah. He would've said no if it was a no. Seems like... it was something in between." He swiped his amulet off the floor and stuck it in his pocket as he climbed back on the couch. He snuggled up next to her again and kissed her shoulder. "If it ain't nothing but a coincidence, it's still a good thing. But I think it was more than coincidence." IZZY She kind of scoffed again, and parted her blanket to let him in, too. "Should've asked his opinion on vampires, I guess." LINA Goro didn't respond, just crawled into the blanket with her, kinda wrapping all his limbs around her as much as possible even though he was too big to sit on her lap like Hansel. IZZY She shifted around, seeming uncomfortable at first, then relaxing against him. She rested her cheek on his shoulder. After a moment, she quietly said, "I just miss ... this. You know?" LINA "Move into my castle," he suggested. IZZY She snorted lowly. "That should be a nice surprise for the fiance, huh." LINA "He likes people. The more the merrier, and shit." IZZY "No kiddin'? In his bed, too?" LINA "Well. Kinda, yeah." IZZY She snorted again. After a beat, she said, "Yeah, I don't think that's ... for me. What you guys have going on, and all." LINA "Yeah? What do you want?" IZZY Again, she didn't answer right away. "My own ... person," she said hesitantly. "You know? A partner. And -- listen, doll, I think you're great, and I appreciate everything, but -- I don't think it can be you. You're someone else's person. And that's not ... you know. I need more. I'm not fucking good at sharing." LINA "I get that," Goro said. He thought about Ysra, but didn't say it. IZZY "And Jasper's not coming back," she said softly. "And Blue's not coming back. And Ysra's not coming back." She closed her eyes and sighed, slow and deep. She nestled against him. "I'm just tired," she mumbled. "I can take care of myself. I'll be fine. I'm just tired." LINA "Want you to be better than fine," Goro said again. IZZY "Yeah. That'd be nice." LINA "And even if I can't be--y'know, your partner, your one person--I still wanna be..." He didn't know how to finish. He swallowed. IZZY She patted him absently. "Yeah. Around. I mean ... you're important, Goro." LINA "Am I?" He was fishing, a little bit. IZZY She nodded against him. LINA "Am I really?" IZZY "I mean, you're kinda all I got, at this point." LINA "Oh, pfff, I get it. You're settling. Once someone better comes along, fwoosh." He pointed his thumb over his shoulder. "Out Goro goes." IZZY She scoffed. LINA Goro deflated a little. IZZY She patted him again. LINA He sulked for a while, then blurted, "If you're really gonna do that--" IZZY She sat up straighter to squint at him. "What? No. I'm not gonna do that. What the fuck, man." LINA He twisted his head away, trying to keep her from seeing his face. Wasn't like Hansel, where he could just hide it on her chest. IZZY She grabbed his chin in one hand to make him look at her, continuing to squint. "I thought you were joking." LINA He groaned and let go of her so he could hide his face behind his arms. IZZY Morgan scoffed again and draped herself over his lap. LINA Goro allowed it to happen, but didn't free his face. He hugged it tight and grabbed the hair on the back of his head. He was thinking about Sam, and how he still didn't think Sam really liked him, and he didn't know much Morgan had ever liked him either, and sometimes he didn't even think Mishka or Raef liked him, and... God. Fucking pathetic, the inside of his head. "Sorry," he groaned, like Morgan had heard all that. IZZY She just kept laying, facedown on the couch, across his lap, and reached up awkwardly to pat him again. LINA Reluctantly he lowered his arms and rested them across her. "If I could give you one piece of advice, though, it's take 'em one at a time. Getting a whole family in a year's too much. Too scary." IZZY "Doll, I can't even get past the one. No probs." LINA "The one?" IZZY She poked him with a finger. LINA "Yeah, but--are you--d'you mean--" IZZY "What?" LINA "You saying I'm family?" IZZY "I don't know shit about family," she grumbled. "You're a friend, though. You're someone I've got." LINA Goro leaned over to kind of hug her from the awkward position they were in. "I put you on the list of people I want protected, when I made a deal with that demon guy." IZZY "Uhh. Neat. Protected from ... what?" LINA "Just, whatever. Point is, everyone else on that list was my family, mostly." He made a face. "'Cept for fuckin' Azriel." IZZY "Melaine?" she asked, sounding more confused. LINA "Fuckin' dick." Goro remembered he'd also stuck Jasper's name on there, but he didn't wanna mention that and rub salt in the wound. IZZY "Man, I really can't keep track of what goes on in your life," she commented. LINA "You're missing the point." IZZY She grumbled at him, still facedown. "Nah, I got the point." LINA "Okay. Well. Yeah." IZZY She sighed, and mumbled, "Well. I appreciate it." LINA "I love you," he blurted, then immediately felt himself turn red. God. Fuck. "I mean..." IZZY "Oh. Uh. I mean. Pssshhh." She dithered for a second, and then, sounding embarrassed, said, "Fuck off, I love you too." LINA Goro broke into a grin, relieved and kinda thrilled. He wiggled around so he could lie down on the couch too, holding her on top of him. He buried his face in her hair, snickering. IZZY "Gross," Morgan said. "God. Let me shower before you do that." LINA "Fine. Together? Wait. Do you still wanna fuck sometimes? I'm cool either way, just wondering." IZZY She snorted and started laughing. "Fuck, you wanna hear something sad? I haven't gotten laid since you and me. Your boytoy doesn't count," she added, "'cause I didn't get off. Your dick cursed me." LINA "Ah, shit. Goddamn." Goro smacked his forehead with the heel of his hand. "So, you're saying you need someone to go down on you, probably. Listen, Morgan, I'm willing and able. I'll take full responsibility for the curse." IZZY She snickered. "Well, your dick might be cursed but that tongue of yours is blessed, honestly." LINA He pulled back so he could grin at her and bob his eyebrows. IZZY Still snickering, she pushed his face away. "I still need to fucking bathe. I'm disgusting. You're disgusting." LINA "Fine, fine. You got a bath here, or what? Chop, chop. My Morgan's got needs." IZZY "Pffft, bath. I got the ocean." LINA "You go in there naked?" IZZY "Yeah?" she said, amused. LINA "What if people see you?" IZZY "Then it's a good day for them." LINA Goro snorted. "That mean I can watch?" IZZY "I thought that was a given." She poked him in the chest. "Guess you're too chicken to join me." LINA He gave a weak scoff. "Ain't nobody gotta see all this." He gestured vaguely at his body. IZZY She poked at him some more. "Oh, yeah? Too hot to handle, Goro Voronin? Hey, are you taking Hansel's name, or is he taking yours, or whatever?" she added curiously. "If you're ditching Voronin, I'm stealing it. I found it. Mine now, fucker." LINA Goro cringed away from the poking, embarrassed, but when she got to the last bit he snickered. "I'm gonna be Voronin-Bell. You can still take Voronin, though, if you want. I don't mind. I'm good at sharing, unlike some people." IZZY "Pfft. Well, maybe I will, then. Morgan Voronin. It's got a nice ring to it." LINA "It does." He grinned. He liked the idea of sharing his name with someone. "Don't got any attachment to Wyn?" IZZY "Fuck, nah." She paused. "I, uh, you know, I didn't tell you about my parents because I thought it seemed kinda shitty, when you found out your dad was dead and you didn't know about Jasmilia yet. But." She shrugged. "My mom named me and then dumped me on my dad -- big scandal, 'cause she was the governor of Sienna Springs, and he was the old guildmaster of the Sanguines, right? But he didn't want me either. So, uh, I killed him and took his guild, then killed her and took her town. You know. As you do." LINA "Oh. Huh. Good for you." IZZY "Yeah, right?" she said, sounding pleased. She rolled off him with an oof and stretched, letting the blanket drop to the floor. "Gotta get my shit back. I worked for it." LINA "What, you mean the guild?" IZZY "Yeah. My guild, my town. My fucking airship." LINA "Hell yeah, count me in. Whatever you need." IZZY "Pfff, I wasn't asking for help." She beckoned him up. "Thanks, though, doll." LINA He climbed to his feet, smiling at her. "I know you didn't. But remember, once I get it in my head to do something." He tapped his temple. "Morgan Voronin. You serious?" IZZY "Maybe." She tugged her shirt off over her head and chucked it at a pile of laundry. "You gonna come get in the ocean with me?" LINA "Wait, is that like, the contingency? You're gonna be Voronin if I come swimming?" IZZY "Maybe," she said again, grinning, and shimmied out of her pants to throw them at him. LINA "Psssh." He didn't try to catch them, just let them fall to the floor. "Um." He rubbed the back of his head, thinking about the other houses nearby. "Nah. I'll just watch." IZZY "Creep," she said fondly. LINA He snorted. "Well, yeah. If the shoe fits." IZZY She smirked at him and trotted back over to pat his cheek. "Well, I like this creep." END Category:Text Roleplay